Take a few minutes to review last year's unit plan assignment and the requirements from True Outcomes. Consider these unit plan descriptions in light of Gallagher's first chapter on planning, and update last year's unit plan requirements below. Be prepared to present and defend your changes based on our goal of focusing on student understanding.
Title:
Author: Grade Level: Course:
Purpose of Unit
Explain the purpose and provide an overview of the unit.
Identify the main idea that all lessons will relate back to. Plan lessons in logical order that allows students to make connections to and understand the main idea. What's the hook? Explain how you will engage your students to see the importance of the unit and the main ideas presented.
Learning Performances and Standards
Identify what ideas in what standards you are addressing. Be sure to "unpack" the standards you use to state its subtopics, what students need to understand before addressing this standard, and the probable misconceptions that students may hold. Once you have your standards, you should state your learning objectives for the unit in terms of learning performances that express the cognitive work students will be able to do with what you are teaching them. Use our list of science practices as a resource. Note: You are encouraged to use the standards you or someone else has already unpacked in this class.
Outline the standards being used in each lesson and how the student will achieve the standard through the lesson. Identify how you will make sure students can identify which standards they are reaching throughout the unit. Through the chosen standards, generate learning objectives for the material you will cover throughout the unit.
Outline, Concept Map, or other Graphical Representation of the Concepts Addressed in the Unit
If you decide to do a concept map, you can use CMaps. Mindmaps can be created at www.mind42.com. You can also just make your drawing on paper, scan it, and embed it in this (or a linked) page as a jpg.
In your concept map include order of lessons. To promote student understanding include how the lessons connect to each other and relate back to the main idea of the unit.
Lesson Sequence
Present a sequence of lessons for 10-15 days of instruction, including at least one lesson that provides students with opportunities to engage in inquiry practices described in class. At least three of the lessons, including the inquiry lesson, must be described completely. The remaining lesson plans can be brief, as described on page 38 of
. Note: You are encouraged to use the lessons that you have already written for this class.
Include lessons that include all four levels of Webb's Depth of Knowledge -- Recall and Reproduction, Skills and Concepts, Strategic Thinking, and Extensive Thinking. Be sure that each lesson draws on basic background knowledge, develops understanding of the objective and applies this knowledge. Explain all lessons in depth that include these depths of knowledge.
Assessment Plan
Describe how you will assess your students' understanding of the unit's learning goals throughout the unit. These assessments should include formative assessments, e.g. questions that you ask that probe probable misconceptions, embedded assessments, e.g. activity artifacts, and summative assessments, e.g. tests and quizzes. Note: You are encouraged to use the assessment developed in class in this section.
Identify how students will be assessed based on their understanding of the content. Be sure to include Gallagher's idea of how students should be continuously assessed. There should be several different forms of formative assessment throughout the unit, along with a summative assessment at the end of the unit.
Rationale
VERY IMPORTANTYour rationale should focus on the following questions: How did you make the topic meaningful for students? How did you make use of inquiry? What are the ways in which you assessed student learning? How did you take account of students' prior experiences and knowledge? How will you sequence lessons so that they support the understanding of the learning outcomes? How will you help students make sense of the materials? Please make use of class readings and discussions in writing your rationale. The rationale is important because it serves as evidence that you are thinking about the unit like a teacher, i.e. going beyond "writing plans" to thinking about how you are going to engage your students with a topic in a way that builds over two or three weeks.
What do you want the students to understand during each lesson? How will you encourage strategic thinking so students are using the highest level of Webb's Depth of Knowledge? How will the concepts taught relate to students' lives outside the classroom?
Title:
Author:Grade Level:
Course:
Purpose of Unit
Explain the purpose and provide an overview of the unit.Identify the main idea that all lessons will relate back to.
Plan lessons in logical order that allows students to make connections to and understand the main idea.
What's the hook? Explain how you will engage your students to see the importance of the unit and the main ideas presented.
Learning Performances and Standards
Identify what ideas in what standards you are addressing. Be sure to "unpack" the standards you use to state its subtopics, what students need to understand before addressing this standard, and the probable misconceptions that students may hold. Once you have your standards, you should state your learning objectives for the unit in terms of learning performances that express the cognitive work students will be able to do with what you are teaching them. Use our list of science practices as a resource. Note: You are encouraged to use the standards you or someone else has already unpacked in this class.Outline the standards being used in each lesson and how the student will achieve the standard through the lesson. Identify how you will make sure students can identify which standards they are reaching throughout the unit. Through the chosen standards, generate learning objectives for the material you will cover throughout the unit.
Outline, Concept Map, or other Graphical Representation of the Concepts Addressed in the Unit
If you decide to do a concept map, you can use CMaps. Mindmaps can be created at www.mind42.com. You can also just make your drawing on paper, scan it, and embed it in this (or a linked) page as a jpg.In your concept map include order of lessons. To promote student understanding include how the lessons connect to each other and relate back to the main idea of the unit.
Lesson Sequence
Present a sequence of lessons for 10-15 days of instruction, including at least one lesson that provides students with opportunities to engage in inquiry practices described in class. At least three of the lessons, including the inquiry lesson, must be described completely. The remaining lesson plans can be brief, as described on page 38 ofInclude lessons that include all four levels of Webb's Depth of Knowledge -- Recall and Reproduction, Skills and Concepts, Strategic Thinking, and Extensive Thinking. Be sure that each lesson draws on basic background knowledge, develops understanding of the objective and applies this knowledge. Explain all lessons in depth that include these depths of knowledge.
Assessment Plan
Describe how you will assess your students' understanding of the unit's learning goals throughout the unit. These assessments should include formative assessments, e.g. questions that you ask that probe probable misconceptions, embedded assessments, e.g. activity artifacts, and summative assessments, e.g. tests and quizzes. Note: You are encouraged to use the assessment developed in class in this section.Identify how students will be assessed based on their understanding of the content. Be sure to include Gallagher's idea of how students should be continuously assessed. There should be several different forms of formative assessment throughout the unit, along with a summative assessment at the end of the unit.
Rationale
VERY IMPORTANTYour rationale should focus on the following questions: How did you make the topic meaningful for students? How did you make use of inquiry? What are the ways in which you assessed student learning? How did you take account of students' prior experiences and knowledge? How will you sequence lessons so that they support the understanding of the learning outcomes? How will you help students make sense of the materials? Please make use of class readings and discussions in writing your rationale. The rationale is important because it serves as evidence that you are thinking about the unit like a teacher, i.e. going beyond "writing plans" to thinking about how you are going to engage your students with a topic in a way that builds over two or three weeks.What do you want the students to understand during each lesson? How will you encourage strategic thinking so students are using the highest level of Webb's Depth of Knowledge? How will the concepts taught relate to students' lives outside the classroom?